Molecular nanocarbons with mechanical bonds
(PHYSorg.com Nanotechnology)

Carbon materials with nano-scale periodicity such as graphene and carbon nanotubes, called `nanocarbons,` are expected to become light, highly functional next-generation materials. There have been demands for precise synthesis methods targeting only at the nanocarbon structure with the desired property because their electronic and mechanical properties are greatly different depending on the structure. Under such circumstances, `molecular nanocarbon science,` in which organic synthesis is used to precisely synthesize molecules with partial structures of nanocarbons, has recently received attention and thus a lot of research projects are under way all over the world.